Amazon co-founder Jeff Bezos has reportedly needed to change considered one of his wedding ceremony occasion venues in Venice after a gaggle of protesters threatened to dam the canals surrounding the situation with inflatable crocodiles, in line with The Guardian.
The tech billionaire and his wife-to-be, Lauren Sanchez, a former journalist, have been alleged to host a marriage get together on the Scuola Grande della Misericordia, a historic constructing relationship again to the 1300s, however pivoted on the final minute amid protest and security considerations, stories the U.Okay. outlet.
The venue change was additionally due partly to safety considerations, after the U.S. bombed Iran, and since President Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, is in Venice for the marriage.
Venetian authorities have elevated safety all through town, significantly within the Jewish neighbourhood, the British outlet added.
Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos are seen in Venice days earlier than their wedding ceremony.
Ernesto Ruscio / GC Photos
Activists say they won’t attempt to cease the marriage however will set up a “no Bezos, no struggle” march as an alternative.
“We really feel as if we scored a victory,” one activist, whom the Guardian didn’t title, mentioned. “The crocodile initiative would have given a foul impression of town — because of this the venue was modified, even when the authorities would possibly attempt to declare it was due to the struggle.”
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The couple will now host their friends at Arsenale di Venezia, a fortified 14th-century complicated of shipyards within the japanese Castello district, Reuters reported.
The brand new location is just accessible by boat and not possible to succeed in by land when the connecting bridges are raised.
The massive shipyard used to serve the Venetian Republic’s maritime empire. Now the Arsenale has been restored and transformed into an exhibition area for the Venice Biennale artwork honest.
The historic constructing of Scuola Grande della Misericordia in Venice, Italy.
Getty Photos
For weeks, some residents and activist teams have been complaining that the days-long wedding ceremony will flip the scenic metropolis into a non-public playground for the wealthy and well-known, and have repeatedly threatened peaceable protests beneath the slogan “No area for Bezos.”
Greenpeace Italia and the British activist group Everybody Hates Elon are additionally a part of the protests; they are saying they joined to deliver consideration to the “social and local weather injustice” of such occasions.
A graffiti studying ‘No House for Bezos’ is pictured on June 13, 2025, in a bar in Venice the place billionaire Jeff Bezos will marry his fiancée, journalist Lauren Sanchez, on the finish of the month.
ANDREA PATTARO/AFP by way of Getty Photos
Whereas the precise date, time and site of the marriage ceremony stay beneath wraps, it’s anticipated to happen between Thursday and Saturday, with roughly 200 friends arriving on an estimated 95 personal jets within the coming days. The record reportedly contains the likes of Kim Kardashian, Katy Perry, Oprah Winfrey and Elon Musk.
The couple are rumoured to be exchanging vows on the Cini Basis on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore on Friday.
Venice is accustomed to internet hosting high-profile occasions, and movie star weddings, maybe its most notable thus far being George and Amal Clooney’s in 2014.
Venice’s sprawling waterways and historical structure additionally entice swaths of worldwide guests, with some 20 million vacationers pouring into town yearly.
In March, the mayor assured that Venice is supplied to handle the logistical obligations of internet hosting the Bezos-Sanchez wedding ceremony.
“We’re mutually working and supporting the organizers to make sure that the occasion might be completely respectful of the fragility and uniqueness of town,” Luigi Brugnaro advised Folks.
In latest days, a bit of what seems to be the couple’s wedding ceremony invitation has been circulating on-line.
ABC Information shared what it says is a snippet asking friends to not deliver items, and that the couple plans to make donations to the UNESCO Venice Workplace, CORILA, a neighborhood wildlife charity and the Venice Worldwide College.
A snippet from Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s wedding ceremony invitation asking friends to not deliver items.
ABC Information
— With recordsdata from Reuters
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